Undergarment



Patented Feb. 18, 1947 i i i i Mrton M. Lloyd, Piqua, obie,- sienfo'rtofrhe Atlas Underwear Company; PiquaOhio, acorporation of OhioApplication February 9, 1945,,s`riai No. '571023 4 claims. (C1. 2-224)This invention relates to nether garments for men and is concerned moreparticularly with a lnovel garment of the 'briefs type which is attrac-'tive in appearance, is comfortable to wear, and can be made atrelatively lowcost. The new garjment'is made of knitted material, sothat it will fit the body snugly, and it is so constructed that accessto the interior of the garment, while it is being worn, may be readilyhad by displacement vof certain parts and without undoingfastenings ofVany kind. The displaced parts are normally held in such relation by thestresses imposed upon them by the stretching of the garment by the bodyof the wearer, that they overlap and close the access opening.Accordingly, upon release 'of the displaced parts, `,they return quicklyto their original positions and remain there under normal conditions. f

Thelnew garment includes a back section and right and left frontSections connected along their outer side edges to the sideV edges ofthe back section. One of the front Sections overlaps the other along thecentral area of. the garment from top to bottom of the Sections andtheir inner side edges have outwardly concave portions and lie wholly onopposite sides of the central median line of the garment. The concaveportions of the inner side edges are free and separable to afiord accessto the interior of the garment, but, when the garment is being worn,stresses are applied to the ends of the curved portions of the'innerside edges of the front Sections, which tend to maintain such edgestaut, and overlapped without gaping. j

For a better understanding'of the invention, reference may be had tothefaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view of the garment, infront elevation;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 2-2 ofFig.r1; i Fig. 3 is a rear view with parts broken away; e Fig. 4 is apartial front elevational view of a modified construction. i i v i Thegarment, as illustrated in the drawings, is made of knitted materialhaving its Wales running vertically, so that it is extensiblecircumferentially of the garment, and it includes a back section ,|0, aleft front .section and a right front section 12.; The ``front sectionsare con-n nected along theinouter side edges 13,144 tof'the i adjacent:side edges of Vthe' 'back section, andithe front and-back sections maybeintegral and cut from a single piece of vmaterial or they may beseparate pieces connected by seamsL- ;f

The bottom edge of the back section is formed with a central transverseportion, and on either side thereof, the'bottom edge' is of curvedformavtiorr 'so 'as to define portions of leg openings 515, Iii.v Thefront Sections overlap from top tob'ottom'thereof with the inner` sideedge ofl section overlying the corresponding edge ofsection 12 and the'inner side edges of the Sectionsv lying wholly on the opposite side ofthe Vertical median line' of the garment.

The portion l9 ofthe inner side edge of front section Il, which extendsupwardly 'from the seam l'l' 'along the edge of leg openingV |5` to 'apoint 20- somewhat below the top of Vthat leg opening;` is connected tothe underlying portion of front section |2. From the point 20, theportion 2|. of the inner side' edge of frontsection l l is free of theunderlying front section |2 to the topedge of, the Sections. Frontsection' |2 similarly has a portion 22 of its inner side edge extendingalong the edge of leg opening L6 'and connected to the underlying'frontsection'll from the seamlT to a point 23 on the' edge of'the leg openingin a horizontal plane through the point 20. VFrom the point 23 up to thetop of the front Sections,

the inner edge 'of section |'2 has a portion `24 I which is'lfree ofsection L' The portions 2| and 24 of the inner side edges of i'sectionsand |2,

respectively, are concave toward the adjacent side edgeslof the garment,and these edge, portions are finished with hems 21a, 24a, respectively,which arefsubstantially inextensible length-' Wise and serve as :areinforcernent,,`v i i '3.

At their llower ends, the overlappedportions of the front sectionsarecon- A waistband 25, which i's preferably endless and I ,ofelasticfmaterial, is attached Vto the top edges 1 of the front and backsections. .i where the curvedportions 2|, 24 of the inner At the pointsside edges of-thevfrontv sections meet the waistedge portions. .2 I,24:, tending vtozpull'these edge i ment.

portions toward the lateral edges of the gar- The forces tend to'maintain the front;

i sections in overlapping relation and to hold the overlapped parts inposition and preventV their 1 gaping. Access, however, may be readilyhadto the interior of the'garment. yby separating'the 1 overlappingportions of the. front'sections de- 1 fined byedge portions 2|, Hand.when the, disi remalndel'..

If. de sired, a row of stitching 26, '21 may be .1 applied toeach of thefront sections to connect tlejcurved edge portion thereof vto the'edg ofthe leg. opening lyingon the opposite side of the i central medianv lineof the garment -.and such stitching tends to prevent'sagging of: thatpart i of the front 'section lying below it..

In the garment: described,. the, front sections 1 are made of a singlepiece, of material, but,if` de- 1 sired, the lower endx'portions of thefront sectionsmay be made' of pieces. separate fromthe seams joiningthem tothe remainder of their respective .sections serve the purposeofthe rows of 3 sti-tching 26, 21..

1 construction as that above describedv except; that 1 it, includes. awaistband V28 whichhas ends 28a,

28bconnected Vto the topsof respective/front i `sections andadapted'to-'be connected inoverlappingrelation by buttons 29 on end 28h'receivablein buttonholesilin end. 28a...

In Vall formsof'the new garment, the front :sections areV freeV of oneanother from points below the tops of the ylegv openings to the vwaist-'band. The front sections voverlap from topto abottorn andV the minimum;overlap' occurs where the cnrvedV edge portions,-.2|,, 24- approach.each .i other most'closely.,V In this region, the front sec- ;tions maybev separated with. least displacement of the parts ofthe garment toafiord access. to

the interior thereof. Under normal conditions of wear, the overlappedparts of the front sections 1are maintained that relation lcyjtheforcesfapF "pliedto the curved-edgeportions. 2|',. 2A at: op-

posite ends thereof'. These. forces 'appliedrat the waistbandthroughVthe reinforcing members 21a, '24a alsotend tol keep the lower endsof.thetover- 3lapped parts of thesfront sections fromsagging.

I cla'im:

L'A nether garment which comprise's'a. back' section having a lower,`edge formed-wi-th a central transverse portion'4 and curved, Vportionson j placed parts are released, the vforces applied to the edge portionscause the parts to return to their original overlapping relation.

Such separate pieces.V are 'preferably cut with a sloping top.. edge. sothat the either side thereof definng, parts of leg Qpn-ings,

right and left, front sections connected along a their respective outerside edges to the. adiacent side. edges of the. back section, ;oneoffthe, front sections overlapping the other ,from top toA hottomv thereofcentrally `offthe Vgarm'ent with the inner 'side .edges of the frontsections Iyingwholl'y 41 z on opposite sides of the Vertical median line.of the garment, the overlapping areas of the front sections beingconnected. at their lower ends to i' the central transverse portion ofthe lower edge of the back section, each front section having a portionof its inner side edge at the lowerend of the section-connected to theother section and the remainder of the side edges of the frontsecad'jacent side edges of the back section, the inner vside edges' ofthe front sections lying wholly on oppsitesides of the Vertical medianline of the garment with one of said edges overlapping the other fromtop'to bottom of the front sections, the: lower end portion ofthe inner.edge of each front Section being. connected to the other frontsectionjalong an' edge. thereof, and elsewhere being free,v the free.portions of. said inner edges curving inwardly toward each other fromthe upper ends of the connected portions of said edges and. thenceoutwardly, and ay waistband connected' to the upper ends of the frontand back sections, the lower ends of the front section-s being connectedto the central. portion of the lower end of the back section.

73. A. nether garment which comprises a.y back section. having a loweredgeformed with a centralV transverseportionf and. curved. portions oneither side thereof.v defining partsof. leg openings,right.

and leftv 'front sections connected along,V their respectivevouter'fside vedges to. the. adjacent side edges. of the back'section,one of the. front sections overlapping the, otherfrom top to bottomthereof centrally of the garmentwith theV inner side'edges of'the front.sectionsz lying wholly on opposite, sides of the Vertical median-lineof-th garment, the overlapping areas of the front, sections beingconnected ati their lozwer ends to the central. transverse portionV ofthe lower edge.- of the back section., each front, section having a.portion of its inner side. edge atvthe, lower end of thesectioncon-nectedto. the other section and the remainder' Of .thesideedges of the; front sections being freeand` separable-` to afio'rdaccess to.` the interior of the garment, reinforcing members disposedalong ther entire' length of vthe inner side edge ofeach front. section,and an eXten-s-i'ble waistband connected to the: upper'` ends of .thefrontfandback, sections.. i

4. A nether garment which comprises ,a back section havinga lower edgeformed:with.- a3 cen- 11ml tranverse' portion 'and' .urvedzi-nrtions..ona

either side thereof defining parts oflegg-obenings; rightandlefftfrontsections connected along' their respective outer side edges to theadjacentfside edges of. the :back section, one. of the front'isecw tionsoverlapping the other from top tobottom thereof centrallyv of thegarment 'with the inner side'edges of the' front-section'sf-l'ying'wholly'on opposite sides of the Vertical`` medianline'of the ga'rment, the overlappin-g'fareasof the'f-ront sectionsvbeing connected at their lower'endsf'to the centraltra-nsverse-1portion of the1 lower'edge-lof i the back' section, 'eachfront' section lhaving'a portion' of' its inner side edge at'g-theflower; end

.of 'the sectionconnected to the otherfsection-anct 5 the remainder ofthe sde edges of the front Sections being free and separable to affordaccess to the interior of the g'arment, a. waistband attached to theupper ends of the front and back Sections, the waistbands havingoverlapping ends terminating even with the upperv ends of the inner sideedges of the front Sections, and means on the overlapping portions ofthe waistband for securing them together.

MERTON M. LLOYD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent: i

Number Nmber UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Flagg Oct. 7, 1941 DavisSept. 10, 1940 Berry e June 28, 1927 Reis Jan. 14, 1936 i Harwood May23, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date British Aug. 16, 1934

